Mysterious places in Yucatán: Chichén Itzá ossuary, a connection with the underworld

MÉRIDA, Yucatán, (Ocotber 23, 2021).- The Chichén Itzá Ossuary in Yucatán is a mysterious building located in this archaeological zone, which is also known as the Tomb of the Great Priest because at its entrance there were seven tombs with clay pots and offerings.

This structure measures more than 10 meters high and is composed of nine staggered bodies, being very similar to the Castle, to the degree of looking like a replica, with the difference of being less tall and that in the smallest of its bodies there is a covered frieze of mythological reliefs decorated in its corners with the effigy of the god Chaac.

Originally, it was part of a monumental complex that communicated with the Cenote Xtoloc. 

Decor

The pyramid has an original decoration, which includes snakes of different types, mythological birds, men-birds-snakes, men with masks of gods and masks, among other reasons.

In addition, it has inscriptions, in one of which the date 894 AD is recorded. 

Also, it has balustrades carved with intertwined serpents that lead to a temple at the top, whose entrance exhibits two columns of serpents.

Overture to the underworld

A mysterious detail of this temple is that in the upper part it has an opening already closed that served as the entrance to a deep staircase that allowed to reach the lower level of the building and then went through a natural tunnel that advanced for kilometers underground. 

The natives participating in the first explorations assure that the long passage can measure more than 20 kilometers and that it ends at another nearby Maya city, probably Yaxuná. 

According to tradition, this tunnel or cavern, “represents the threshold between the world of the dead and paradise.”

In fact, the building was built over a cave and it is possible that it was considered an entrance to the underworld by the Mayas. 

This building had relevance among the Maya not only for its elaborate iconography, but even centuries after the abandonment of the city, ritual censers were deposited on the site. 

In the cavity, a series of objects such as medium-sized sculptures, bone remains, and shell objects were found. 

Source: Sipse

The Yucatan Times Newsroom

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